I'm lvl 23 Nord, primarily two-handed axe with a fair amount of magicka trying to complete this quest. I can't seem to get the final part of actually getting the crown or killing the two Deathlords that go with the deceased Jarl. The last Deathlord I came across I got past him with a potion of invisibility after dying about 15 times. Can't seem to take two of them on plus their master.

I've tried the following:

Beastform - instant death

Wake Jarl with an arrow, only to have him and his deathlords awaken and take out me and my backup

Poinson axe, with Oakflesh and fireballs

And several other combos of the above. Any and all advice welcome!

turn the difficulty down to novice.

In Oblivion I developed a habit of keeping a staff with an area of effect spell, in Skyrim I like a staff of Fireballs, or the eye of Melka for softening opponents. If you have the ability to cast one, a Rune Spell is almost as usefull for an opponent who is willing to chase you.

I can't believe you are attempting multiple Deathlords at level 23. What difficulty are you playing at?

I was gonna say it seems like a really low level to be getting deathlords. bad luck perhaps?

Deathlords at 23 for sure. Death Overlords start in the 30s, right?

I haven't done Jagged Crown, but I had a similar experience with a different quest. I had very difficult time with the Companions quest Proving Honor at Dustman's Cairn when doing it early. I was Level 11 and the final room contained lots of Draugr Death Overlords with Ebony swords, Unrelenting Force, and Disarm. There were 6 of them I think ,and on top of that there were 10 weaker Draugrs. In a locked room. In Skyrim dungeons do not strictly level with the character. Some dungeons are easier and some are harder. Some are very difficult to do with low level character.

Good thing about Draugrs. including Draugr Deathlords and Draugr Death Overlords, is that they are rather slow. And although they have large health, they regenerate very slowly, if at all. If you get damaged, you can keep running away from them and let your health and magicka recharge. With a bit of luck and patience, you can beat 3 Draugr Deathlords buck naked with just flame and healing spell at level 1.

Or, you can turn back and leave the dungeon, and come back when you are stronger and better equipped. Most dungeons I've seen you can run away, although there are a few you have no way of turning back.

Come back later at a higher level. That's the whole point of leveling up, right?

I had the same happen to me at a really low level - after many reloads, I've finally beaten them by dual wielding two silver weapons from that dungeon. I thought they'd be too high a level to be affected, but it turns out that's not the case. After they run away in fear, it's just hacking at them enough. Maybe the OP can try a similar tactic?

Well that's not true, death overlords are only boss level draugr when you hit level 30. At level 11 you will be fighting restless draugr and normal draugr, possibly with a wight in there.

About the OP, you do have the help of 5 or 6 stormcloaks, who can take the bulk of the attacks from the deathlords. I never usually get hit during this mission on master, I let them take the hits and move around attacking.

For some dungeons it's fixed, I had to deal with Deathlords at level 1 in Forelhost when attempting to kill Rahgot if I remembered correctly.

As usual the trusty Summon Atronach staves are invaluable when attempting to fight people way above your level.

I haven't done this yet on my mage, but I did run into similar troubles Geirmund's Hall. I still have no enchantments on my gear, and at the time only the basic level spells. Despite being nearly level 60, those deathlords were murder. I couldn't fury them, heck, even the wights resisted. A flame atronach lasted one hit. My sneak, however, was at 100. So the place where the troublemakers were, a pair of drawbridges, allowed me to climb on some rocks below and dual-cast firebolts until they wore down. The final room, with Sigdus Gauldurson was a laffer. After triggering the sarcophagus, I ran out of the room and conjured my Bound Bow (archery in the 80s, I think) which is my major ranged damage-dealer. Then I plinked away, taking zero damage, until he was dead.

Always try alternatives, and pick your fights. Oh, and that room in Proving Honor, yeah... I ended up cowering under the stairs with my bound bow while Farkas was on his knees, retching. The draugr would mill around and I'd sneak attack them when they were looking the other way. I don't think Farkas killed any, the putz.

According to the wiki, Draugr Scourges are standard level 21 Draugrs, and Draugr Death Overlords are level 21 Draugrs bosses. Draugr Deathlords are standard level 30 Draugrs. (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Undead) On top of that, you do not have to be level 21 to meet Draugr Death Overlords. Monsters are not leveled linearly with player level in Skyrim except for Dragons. Each dungeon has its own level ranges assigned to it. So it is possible to meet Draugr Death Overlords at Level 14. There is a good explanation of Skyrim leveling system here: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/34615/how-do-enemies-and-monsters-level-up

One example of this leveling effect is Dustman's Cairn. The boss fight area has 18 coffins and they open up in multiple waves as you kill off enemies. There are 6 Draugr Death Overlords and the rest of them are Draugr Wights (Level 13) and Draugr Scourges (Level 21) I've faced Draugr Death Overlords here at level 11, level 14 and level 35 with different characters. This area is very challenging as a low level player if your play style is straight melee, because Draugr Death Overlords can kill you with 3 hits while a sword user probably needs to connect 30 or 50 times, and you are affected by the Disarm shout until you reach level 30.

Try sneaking in with invisibility potions, with a fire bow poisoned with weakness to fire drawn and ready, then use unrelenting force and shoot while one is down, retreat, save, etc. etc.

I don't know, if it's that frustrating I'd lower the difficulty and get on with it..... remember not to use frost damage v. draugr!

Just to add, for Dustman's Cairn, if you use Runes you can pop open the coffins 1 at a time before grabbing the stone. Much easier that way.

I used a combination of Backstabs and invisibility to get past those guys. I don't remember it being tough, and I was around your same level...

Invisibility, paralysis, and backstabbing, a spellsword's paradise. I really want quickcasting though.

It was on my no smithing/enchanting/alchemy character so I had no paralysis at my disposal. I did sneak to the wall and learned the Slow Time shout though, and started using it immediately.

I meant the spell, (which works better than the weapon enchant).

Oh right. Well I wasn't using Alteration either.

Absolutely! I had Sneak and the Backstab perks when I did this and it was not tough. That $*** works.

Nice.

Of course....this style of play is MUCH easier than straight melee at this level range without heavy BS/Enchanting. By much easier I mean VERY much. Were you actually comparing stealth+illusion to in your face straight up Conan style melee?

I understand how it works, I just didn't have the exact numbers at my disposal. I'm just saying he didn't fight "lots" of overlords, even at high levels when I've done this mission I've never fought multiple overlords, actually in my entire skyrim playing time I've never encountered more than one overlord at a time.

I've only ever found one overlord per dungeon, so I'm not sure what you said is entirely correct.

It is a strategy he hadn't mentioned trying; that was my way of suggesting it.

In the mid 20's, melee combat should be overcoming its weakest point, so the disparity in difficulty is not as crazy as it could be.

Oh, it's correct. If you get high enough (I know a lot of people don't want to get to the 40s and 50s and that's fine.) you'll see Deathlords in place of Scourges and Wights and maybe even Restless'. Then at the end rooms you can have multiple Death Overlords. I'm pretty sure I've even seen Death Overlords roaming hallways in place of lessers.

Yeah, I used to have to anticipate and dodge (dual wielder) their attacks. In rooms with multiples I even had to melee proper with my assassin chick.